Re-hospitalization process of patients with severe and persistent mental disorder from the viewpoint of nurses in the Psychiatric Wards: a qualitative study

Abstract Introduction: Re-hospitalization is one of the challenges and basic problems among patients with severe mental disorders. Considering the limitations of the performed studies in Iran about the process and reasons of re-hospitalization in patients with severe mental disorders in the psychiatric ward, this qualitative study was conducted with the aim of “explore of the process of re-hospitalization in patients with severe and persistent mental disorders from the viewpoint of the nurses in psychiatric ward”. Materials & Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with the participation of 14 nurses working in the psychiatric hospitals of Ahvaz city (south Iran) in the years 2011-2012, who were selected via purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection, which were continued until achieving data saturation and emerging themes. Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The main concept that emerged from this study is “discontinuity of care process” that can be described in three sub-categories: 1-Drug disruption at home, 2- Family status as the relapse factor, and 3- Deficient therapeutic system. Each of these themes has subgroups, too. Conclusion: The process of caring for the patients with severe mental disorders, is a permanent, unit and holistic. Therefore, programming for follow-up patients into their families and social networks is essential factor in this process. It was revealed that treatment and care of the patients with chronic mental disorder could be very effective after release. Keywords: Re-hospitalization, Psychiatric patients, Qualitative study, Nurses.